Timothy, Titus, and Christ’s return

This is the sixth in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.

In previous columns, we briefly surveyed Paul’s letters to the Philippians and Thessalonians, with an emphasis on passages previewing the return of Christ. Here, we see what the apostle writes to Timothy and Titus about the second coming.

1 Timothy 6:13-16 – In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you to keep this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will bring this about in his own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal power. Amen.

Paul draws a contrast between Timothy and the false teachers who “imagine that godliness is a way to material gain” (1 Tim. 6:5). The young pastor is to flee from false doctrine and pursue “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness” (v. 11). Further, Timothy is to persevere in faithfulness until “the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,” which God will bring about “in his own time” (vv. 14-15). 

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Three kinds of death

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

God warned Adam that if he disobeyed, he would die “on the day” he ate from the forbidden tree (Gen. 2:17). Yet Adam lived at least another eight hundred years, breathing his last at the age of 930 (Gen. 5:5). So, in what sense did Adam die on the day he sinned? A little background may prove helpful.

When the Bible says we are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27), it means, at least in some respects, we are a trinity – not that we exist as three co-equal divine persons, but that we each possess a body, soul, and spirit. This means we also die in three stages as a consequence of sin.

The Fall affects each part of human beings’ threefold nature. As James Boice explains, “Specifically, his [man’s] spirit died, for the fellowship that he had with God was broken; his soul began to die, for he began to lie and cheat and kill; his body died eventually, for as God said, ‘Dust you are and to dust you will return’” (Gen. 3:19).

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Satan the murderer

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

James Fairweather was only fifteen years old when he stabbed a drunken and helpless man 102 times during an encounter in Colchester, England. Three months later, Fairweather stabbed a second victim in both eyes as she walked along a nature trail in the same Essex community, resulting in her death. He was stalking a third victim when police arrested him. What made his capture particularly chilling was his admission that he wanted to kill at least fifteen more people.

When the judge handed down the teenager’s sentence, Fairweather turned toward his parents and mouthed, “I don’t give a s—.” 

Fairweather is one of the world’s youngest serial killers. He’s also one of the few who showed absolutely no remorse for his crimes. His mother branded him a “monster.” His teachers heard him express a desire to be a murderer but didn’t believe him, thinking him to be merely an “edgy teenager.” He idolized Peter Sutcliffe, the “Yorkshire Ripper,” and regarded American serial killer Ted Bundy as his favorite murderer. He claimed possession by the devil and said he heard voices in his head that compelled him to kill. Both killings showed elements of planning and sadism.

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Horns and a pitchfork?

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

The subtlety of the father of lies is rooted in his character as the master of a million faces. And these faces are beautifully bathed in light. The grotesque images of the evil one as a fiery red beast with horns, a pointy tail, and a pitchfork come to us, not from Scripture, but from Middle-Age caricatures. 

The medieval church believed firmly in the reality of Satan. It understood that the evil one was a fallen angel whose head swelled with pride. So, the church proposed attacking Satan at his point of weakness – his arrogance – and he would flee. As R. C. Sproul puts it, “What better way to attack Satan’s pride than to depict him as a cloven-hoofed court jester in a red suit?” Unfortunately, later generations, including ours, maintain these distortions as if they are intended to be the real thing.

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Satan: Father of lies

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

What do Satan and Fletcher Reede have in common? Haven’t heard of Mr. Reede? He’s the fast-talking lawyer whose habitual untruths built a remarkably successful career for himself – and ruined just about everything else, including a relationship with his young son, Max. Actor Jim Carrey plays the strangely lovable louse in the 1997 film Liar Liar.

Reede undergoes a miraculous transformation when Max makes a wish. As he’s blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, Max wishes his dad would tell the truth – and nothing but the truth – for just twenty-four hours. Max’s wish comes true, and the ensuing scenes take Reede through an agonizing journey of self-discovery and, ultimately, a restored relationship with his son. 

Redemption rarely looks this sweet, or funny. Throughout the story, Reede realizes he is incapable of telling the truth. His pathological behavior suits him, and benefits him, until he realizes it destroys nearly everything he loves. Reede lies because he is a liar. It is his nature to lie. And it takes a miracle to set him free.

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